What's your favorite album?

[Catherine Walker]

their ideas are always relevant, always beautiful and thought provoking. it's poetry in the truest sense of the word. the minutemen have to tell you something only because they have the ability to tell you something, and god damn it the world could use a little more thought for the sole sake of celebrating existence.

 

[Jimbon]

basically spiderland but better

 

[danilo]

basically spiderland but better

woah... chill

 

[(makeup)]

Tourist History by Two Door Cinema Club

 

[Pastelle]

For me, this was an easy choice:

The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

I first got exposed to The Beatles when I was 11 or 12, when kids start figuring out who they want to become. I fell head over heels in love with this seemingly prehistoric rock group because they created a sound I'd never heard before. They gave me ideas I'd never thought before, and feelings I'd never felt before. Despite being before my time, they made me see art, society, and spirituality in an entirely different way. I honestly don't think I'd be who I am today if it weren't for this band, and I'm so grateful they were brought into my life when they were. They mean so much to me.

I love all of their albums, but this is what I would pick if I had to choose a favorite. It has my favorite feel out of all of their albums, and in general makes me feel the most at home. Also A Day in the Life is one of the greatest songs ever written and will always be the song I listen to when I need comforting ^_^

 

[HBK]

 

[col49]

tough to id for me, given i'll find myself listing off scores and scores of really amazing records and why they're also really fucking good, but i guess ultimately i gotta be basic

a touch short of 30 min of finely tuned, evocative, and enthralling art pop from what of the most potent and influential musicians of his time. most everything he did is worthy of acknowledgement, but this project is just draws out the best of him. art pop rules, yeah!!!

 

[doublenikesocks]

Cause I like the themes in the album and the music is very memorable.

 

[RoadsterUFO]

Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power (1973)

This album is all the high intensity and energy I love about rock music taken to the absolute limit to infinity and beyond.

 

[asterat]

billy joel - the stranger

 

[veiva]

Of any particular album I enjoy, there's only two I can say for certain are my favorite. Choosing between either of them is impossibly difficult for me... So in no particular order:

Dead Can Dance - Within the Realm of a Dying Sun

Haunting and beautiful. I consider this album perfect; there is no song I'd rank higher than any other, in the end. They're all wonderful.

Detroit Social Club - Existence (couldn't find a playlist on Youtube, and the album [is/was] difficult to get outside of the UK [I live in the USA]... So here's Sunshine People as an example)

Not sure how to describe it, in honesty, especially because I haven't enjoyed many other similar bands enough (Oasis being the exception). I enjoy all the songs on the album, no question, though there are some I prefer over others. Kiss the Sun / Sunshine People / Rivers & Rainbows / Prophecy / Universe / and the untitled second half of "Lights of Life" (i.e., the bit after the couple minutes of silence) are my favorites on this album, but the other songs are still great on their own.

 

[HelenTheHero]

Meh, this is old but I'll post anyway.

My favorite right now is a collection of Queen's greatest hits that I got for my Birthday/Christmas (My birthday is near Christmas, the 16th, so it tends to blur together when I remember when I got things.) a few years ago. I just love listening to it. Not sure if it counts as an album though, but whatever. I love listening to Don't Stop me Now when having tons of fun with friends in whatever game I'm playing. Another One Bites the Dust is fun for PVP games, etc.

 

[Phione]

Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface

It has a lot of hidden motifs and hints and stuff in all of its songs, plus they're really good.

 

[SM979]

of Beauty and Rage by Red. The lyrics are pure genius, and the instrumentation just adds on to the greatness of the album.

Here's a YouTube video of the full album:

Favorite song: Gravity Lies

 

[Thursday]

every now and then my friends ask me this question and it always has the same effect on me: i pause dumbly and realize that i don't really know, and then i have to bullshit an answer so they don't stare at me like i'm some asshole. i don't think i have an all-time favorite album as much as i have many albums that stick to me for a long period of time. the closest thing i have to a favorite, though, is probably 1999 by prince. the album positively radiates with energy and the feeling of being alive, it's probably the best thing i've ever listened to

honorable mentions at the moment go to mambo nassau (entirely different sound, but a favorite for many of the same reasons) by lizzy mercier descloux, pastel blues by nina simone (beautiful, unforgettable, difficult to describe meaningfully), and either angst in my pants by sparks or dragging a dead deer up a hill by grouper. oh and the shape of jazz to come by ornette coleman as well. ‘lonely woman’ is one of the most powerful songs i've ever heard; it's a shame that i got into his material only months before his death, though. i haven't really listened to much else from his discography, but the few things i've heard from him are breathtaking

albums that i've loved in the past are largely considered /mu/ staples that i listened to in my adolescence, like madvillain, kate bush's the dreaming, neutral milk hotel, and pre-yanqui gy!be. i believe i also listened to a lot of metal (errant death/doom/black metal bands mostly) but i kind of fell out of that i think. not that those albums aren't good or that i don't listen to them occasionally, but they're not really that high up on my favorites list anymore.

 

[Cutnasite]

every now and then my friends ask me this question and it always has the same effect on me: i pause dumbly and realize that i don't really know, and then i have to bullshit an answer so they don't stare at me like i'm some asshole. i don't think i have an all-time favorite album as much as i have many albums that stick to me for a long period of time. the closest thing i have to a favorite, though, is probably 1999 by prince. the album positively radiates with energy and the feeling of being alive, it's probably the best thing i've ever listened to

honorable mentions at the moment go to mambo nassau (entirely different sound, but a favorite for many of the same reasons) by lizzy mercier descloux, pastel blues by nina simone (beautiful, unforgettable, difficult to describe meaningfully), and either angst in my pants by sparks or dragging a dead deer up a hill by grouper. oh and the shape of jazz to come by ornette coleman as well. ‘lonely woman’ is one of the most powerful songs i've ever heard; it's a shame that i got into his material only months before his death, though. i haven't really listened to much else from his discography, but the few things i've heard from him are breathtaking

albums that i've loved in the past are largely considered /mu/ staples that i listened to in my adolescence, like madvillain, kate bush's the dreaming, neutral milk hotel, and pre-yanqui gy!be. i believe i also listened to a lot of metal (errant death/doom/black metal bands mostly) but i kind of fell out of that i think. not that those albums aren't good or that i don't listen to them occasionally, but they're not really that high up on my favorites list anymore.

1999 by Prince is such a good album, I agree with you completely on the feelings the album emits.

 

[v]

The Beatles

Of the Beatles later output, their double album often receives the most flak. In fact, barring the atrocities that are Let It Be and the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, it is probably the most (relatively) critically-reviled of their records post-Rubber Soul. That has, on a very personal and spiritual level, always hurt me. The Beatles is a lot of things, but to me, at its core, it's an album about defying expectations, even moreso than Revolver or Pepper or Abbey Road. Yes, Revolver is probably their most overly "against the grain" album, Pepper their most lushly produced, and Abbey Road their most cohesive, but the Beatles is by far the most eclectic. And yet, despite their genre-spanning, they still sound like the boys, the Beatles! Some call it unfocused, but I disagree. I think the variety IS the focus, the diversity representing four men's ever-expanding musical tastes.

I was gonna write more but then I realized nobody's gonna read this anyways and there's been more written about this album than probably 99% of things that have existed or will exist. I'm not gonna be the Guy That Adds Something Relevant To The Discussion Fifty Years After It Ended. It's a good album.

 

[danilo]

i bet most of u mite b confused but the record 'the beatles' is more commonly known as the white album

 

[v]

well i DID clarify it's their double album!

 

[n0000000b]

hi

i probably heard this stuff a million times. its a classic that never gets old and one of the albums that helped construct my musical tastes and inspired at least 80% of the bandsi listen.
it does have that eerie voice from ozzy, which isnt a good singer but matches perfectly the sabbath's sound purpose; the sick witchcraft thematic (and awesome bass lines as it would be expected) from geezer buttler; the raw power of Bill Ward drums; and of course the riff master itself, Tony Iommi in all its glory with that sick guitar tone, awesome riffage, tritones going around... after the loss of parts of two fingers and using violin strings because of the tension. omg black sabbath is so ahead of their time i cant even discribe

 

[Fortune]

madvillain - madvillainy

pretty cliché since it's in a lot of hip-hop head's top 5 but i could probably listen to it infinitely and never get tired of it. this collection of madlib beats combined with the rough vocals from doom are amazing. top 3 tracks for me are raid, great day and fancy clown.

 

[Bughouse]

so many choices... I don't think I can force myself down to one, but here some of my favorites:

Blue - Joni Mitchell
California, River, and Case of You are 3 of my favorite songs. I could barely even care about the other tracks, which are good in any case, and it'd still make my list. Joni Mitchell is simply one of the most talented songwriters and musicians to ever exist. Definitely the best as a combination of the two skillsets. And Blue, imo, is her at her best.

Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
... except for the part where the US edition had these abysmal hip-hop remix bonus tracks at the end. But all the regular stuff is fucking fantastic. I can think of very few singers who sing with more intention than Amy did. I would say that it's criminal that this didn't win album of the year in 2008, but I can't fault Herbie Hancock doing a Joni Mitchell tribute album, seeing as how much I love Joni (see above).

The Blessed Unrest - Sara Bareilles
Every song on this album is perfect for my tastes. It has flawless and sincere vocals presenting interesting, at times masterful, lyrics all wrapped up in skillful, but definitely not overdone, production. It's almost like a modern, much more poppy version of Joni Mitchell (wow I really can't stop talking about her).

Whokill - Tune-Yards
Now for something not at all related to Joni Mitchell! This album is so bizarre and yet so perfect. I think it says an awful lot that it won best album in the Pazz and Jop poll in 2011, when that poll overwhelmingly tends to pick blockbuster hip-hop albums (since 2000, it has voted for Kanye 4 times, for example), beating out a Kanye/Jay-Z collab... all while only selling ~47,000 units that year. You don't even need to follow lyrics to enjoy the experience due to powerful rhythms and a voice that demands attention, but if you do like lyrics, it's got power there too. The lyrics speak of violence and inequality in a cynical yet curious way that could only be accomplished by someone who sees themselves as an outsider within their own culture. Almost like the lyrical commentary of a certain miss Joni Mitchell (goddamnit).



tl;dr everything is Joni Mitchell

 

[Cutnasite]

madvillain - madvillainy

pretty cliché since it's in a lot of hip-hop head's top 5 but i could probably listen to it infinitely and never get tired of it. this collection of madlib beats combined with the rough vocals from doom are amazing. top 3 tracks for me are raid, great day and fancy clown.

This album is so good. My favorite songs are Operation Lifesaver, All Caps, Rhinestone Cowboy, Eye, and Fancy Clown.

 

[OLD GREGG (im back baby)]

I have three favorite albums:

Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
Classic album for sure. Favorite tracks Great Gig in the Sky, Us and Them.

System of a Down-Toixicity
I've listened to this album in its entirety more than any other album. It's incredible and a must have for any metal head. Favorites tracks are Prison Song, Needles, Deer Dance, Forest, Pyscho, pretty much the whole album lol.

BTNH-East 1999 Eternal
Classic rap album, they don't make rap records like this anymore. Favorite tracks Da Introduction, Eternal, Mr. Bill Collector, Shotz to the Double Glock.

Honorable mentions: Megadeth-Rust in Peace, Kanye West-College Dropout, Led Zepplin-III, RHCP-Californication, Nas-Illmatic, Eminem-Marshall Mathers LP.

 

[Martin]

This is tough. There are so many good albums, and trying to pick one is difficult. It's probably this, although I'm not 100% sure tbh:



There are about 50 other albums that I could post here, including Sol-Fa, Space Odditiy, Scatman's World and Time Out among many, many others (I like most genres a lot). Movie, game and series OSTs are very good as well due to the music not feeling like a lot of the commercially released stuff.